Fish and Aquatic Species Conservation

Increased salinization of freshwater systems is a growing concern, and can be attributed to a variety of factors including climate change, land-use change, agricultural practices, road de-icing, and brines released from fossil fuel extraction. Effects of increased salinization on aquatic organisms is little understood and may be vastly different among species and among different life stages.

We are working closely with multiple partners to provide updated information, model potential outcomes, and identify key uncertainties relevant to amphibian and reptile species proposed for listing in the northeast US. We also provide timely science to partners to assist in recovery of listed species, which may involve field research, data analysis, or decision support.

This project is a collaboration of scientists from the USGS and University of Georgia to collect and analyze data describing how small-stream fishes use habitats created through stream restoration activities. The USFWS Region 4 requested this Science Support Partnership (SSP) project as a means to evaluate the effectiveness of stream restoration (primarily in north Georgia, and potentially in...

Mycobacteriosis among northern snakehead fish in the Potomac River

Potash, with the active ingredient potassium chloride (KCl) is a chemical that is currently being evaluated for potential use as a molluscicide to combat invasive zebra mussels and quagga mussels in Western United States waters.

This project, in collaboration with the NJ Pinelands Commission and the USGS NJ Water Center, is evaluating potential effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals from point and nonpoint sources in the Pinelands Area, a research cluster as part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative.

Sturgeons appear in the fossil record as early as the Triassic, 200 million years ago. Although most populations could once tolerate harvesting pressures, most populations have collapsed and nearly all of the 28 species alive today are listed as threatened or endangered. In New England, dams and water regulation challenge population recoveries of the two resident species, the shortnose and...

Welcome to Project eTrout [instructional video]! Click here to begin. Click here for a summary of results. Virtual reality (VR) provides exciting opportunities for environmental education and research. We invite your participation in a new program to engage students, anglers, and citizen scientists in fish ecology and climate change research using new VR methods. Participants will learn about fish...

Human and Ecological Health Impacts Associated with Water Reuse and Conservation Practices

Molecular characterization of unknown virus isolated from the introduced species, the Northern snake head ( Channa argus ), present in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds with the potential to interfere with normal endocrine communication in organisms.

Evaluating the pathogenicity and replication of a novel aquareovirus that infects the endangered fountain darter, Etheostoma fonticola